1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a window operating system for casement or awning windows. The operating system has two actuators that are connected to be controlled by one crank to operate simultaneously. In a further embodiment, the operating system has at least one actuator with a crank assembly to operate the actuator being located at a different location on a window frame from the actuator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Window operators are known for casement windows and awning windows. Previous operators have a crank thereon and there is only one operator used on each window. Previous operators have been used in conjunction with locks whereby the lock is unlocked or locked by rotating the crank and the same crank is used to open and close the window.
The Tucker U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,103 describes an automatic window sash and lock operator whereby the window is unlocked, opened, closed and locked by rotating the crank on the operator. The Vetter U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,858 describes a window operator with a locking worm drive system. Both the window operator described in the Tucker patent and the window operator described in the Vetter patent have a hinge located at the top and bottom of the window in addition to the operator located at the bottom of the window. The previous window operators that unlock, open, close and lock the window did not operate sufficiently well to achieve commercial success.
Typically, a casement window or an awning window has two hinges. With a casement window, the hinges are typically located at the top and bottom of the window. With an awning window, the hinges are typically located on the two vertical sides of the window. In addition to the two hinges, both the casement window and awning window typically have an operator with a crank thereon to open and close the window. A casement window usually has at least one single point lock thereon or a multipoint lock. Awning windows usually have two single point locks, one lock being located on each vertical side of the frame. Many sashes, particularly in large windows are not sufficiently strong laterally to retain their shape. When a sash is closed against a frame using a single operator located at a bottom of the frame, even though the sash is closed at the bottom it can still be open at the top. When the multipoint lock is moved to the locked position, the bottom portion of the sash is locked, but there is a gap between the sash and the frame in the top portion.
In this application, an actuator is defined as a device for opening and closing casement or awning windows by turning a crank that is located on the actuator itself or is located apart from the actuator but is connected to operate the actuator. An operator is defined as an actuator with a crank located thereon.